851.857 Su 8/54½a
The Secretary of State to
President Wilson
Washington,
April 10, 1916.
My Dear Mr. President: I enclose a suggested
insertion in the draft of instructions to the American Ambassador at
Berlin, which I handed to you at the White House on the 6th
instant.26
The suggestion is due to Mr. Gerard’s telegram #3713 of April 6th.27 I have just this moment received another
telegram from Mr. Gerard28 saying that he expected to receive today the German
reply in the Sussex case. I am, however, sending
forward this suggestion for insertion because I assume the German answer
will deny the presence of one of their submarines in the vicinity of the
Sussex at the time she was wrecked—which will
not materially affect our position as I see it.
I also enclose a flimsy of Mr. Gerard’s 3713 and also a statement of the
facts in the case of the Sussex based on the
evidence which we now have in hand. My idea is that this statement
should accompany the proposed instructions, together with the evidence
upon which it is based.29
In case that course is followed it will be necessary to insert on page
one of the draft of instructions a parenthetical clause at the end of
the third paragraph, reading: “(A statement of the facts in the case is
enclosed.)”
In spite of the dispatches we are receiving from Berlin I am still of the
same opinion which I have by letter and orally expressed to you—that the
course of action of this Government should be decided upon as soon as
possible.
Faithfully yours,
[Enclosure]
Suggested Insertion at the Beginning of Draft Instructions to the Ambassador in
Germany (Gerard)
I did not fail to transmit immediately by telegraph to my Government
your Excellency’s note of the 5th instant30 in regard
to the
[Page 543]
disastrous
explosion, which on March 24th wrecked the French steamship Sussex in the English Channel. I have now the
honor to deliver, under instructions from my Government the
following reply to your Excellency:
The Government of the United States, after careful consideration of
the Imperial Government’s note of April 5, 1916, regrets to state
that it appears from the statements and requests contained in the
note that the Imperial Government fails to appreciate the gravity of
the situation which has resulted not alone from the attack on the
Sussex but from the submarine warfare as
waged by the German naval authorities, which without apparent
discrimination has been directed against neutral merchant vessels as
well as those of Germany’s enemies.
If the Sussex had been an isolated case, the
Government of the United States might consider that the officer
responsible for the deed had wilfully violated his orders and that
the ends of justice would be satisfied by imposing upon him an
adequate punishment and by a formal disavowal of the act by the
Imperial Government. But the Sussex is not an
isolated case, though the attack was so utterly indefensible and
caused a loss of life so appalling that it stands forth today as one
of the most terrible examples of the inhumanity of submarine warfare
as it is now being waged by Germany.
Even if the Sussex was torpedoed by mistake or
in deliberate disobedience of orders, the fact remains that the act
is in accord with the spirit manifested by the German naval
authorities in their general policy and practice of submarine
warfare. In view of this fact no apology, no disavowal, no admission
of wrongdoing, no punishment of a guilty officer, and no payment of
indemnity will satisfy the Government of the United States.
Furthermore, the question of submarine warfare, which has for so
many months been under discussion, is no longer debatable. The
evidence of the determined purpose of the Imperial Government in the
employment of submarines against peaceable merchant vessels is too
certain and too plain to require explanation, and it is too
manifestly lawless to admit of argument.
Thoroughly convinced that the attack on the Sussex was directly due to the German policy, though there
may possibly have been a technical violation of orders by the
commander of the submarine who torpedoed the vessel, the Government
of the United States, while communicating to the Imperial Government
the facts in the case of the Sussex, is
constrained to go further and to announce the course of action which
it has determined to follow and the reasons for such action.
